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Anthropology

<OpenstaxParagraph>
	<strong>Class</strong> refers to a group of people with the same socioeconomic status and proximity to power. In a class-based system, status stems from wealth and one’s proximity to the power that wealth builds. Economically, class systems are most often associated with the capitalist mode of production. People in the United States often think of the term <OpenstaxTerm>middle class</OpenstaxTerm> when considering class systems.
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	<OpenstaxTerm>Capitalism</OpenstaxTerm><strong>—</strong>the economic mode of production based around markets, ownership of land and resources, and wage labor—has produced classes that are grounded in the acceptance of the idea that <OpenstaxEm>earned</OpenstaxEm> wealth or status is the basis for social hierarchy within a nation. In capitalist nations, a person’s status in society directly relates to the amount of money they have acquired or the position they have achieved in their career. Class-based systems often emphasize social inequalities because of the hegemonic idea that relation to capital determines a person’s value in society. For instance, Bill Gates is looked up to for his status as a billionaire, while those who work in fast food are often seen as not deserving of a living wage. This system of inequality, especially in the United States, is tied to the idea of meritocracy, with those at the top of the class system assumed to have worked hardest or to be most deserving of high-level positions and those at the bottom assumed to be personally at fault for their lack of wealth.
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	Capitalism includes the concept of <OpenstaxTerm>social mobility</OpenstaxTerm>, or the ability of an individual to move up into higher and thus more powerful classes merely by working hard. Social mobility is the basis for the “American Dream,” the idea that poor Americans can attain a higher class. On the other hand, anthropologist Katherine S. <OpenstaxTerm>Newman</OpenstaxTerm> has done decades of research on <OpenstaxTerm>downward social mobility</OpenstaxTerm>, or the ongoing loss of capital and ensuing loss of social status. Newman (1999) found that in the last decades of the 20th century, divorce, emigration, company downsizing, and technological advancement left many middle-class individuals struggling to maintain their class (also see Gans 2009). Furthermore, the 2008 recession and the economic crash experienced due to the <OpenstaxTerm>COVID-19</OpenstaxTerm> pandemic led to downward social mobility for millions.
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	In addition to class, the United States also uses the concept of “collar.” <OpenstaxEm><OpenstaxTerm>White-collar</OpenstaxTerm></OpenstaxEm> jobs are assumed to require higher education, involve less manual labor, and pay more, while <OpenstaxEm><OpenstaxTerm>blue-collar</OpenstaxTerm></OpenstaxEm> jobs are considered less skilled, more manual, and lower paying. However, <OpenstaxEm>Forbes</OpenstaxEm> magazine found that there are many “blue collar” jobs (e.g., plumbers and electricians) that have higher earnings than many “white collar” jobs (such as entry- or mid-level finance), yet they carry lower status within US social hierarchy. What distinguishes white-collar from blue-collar jobs if it isn’t just about how much money they make? German social scientist Max <OpenstaxTerm>Weber</OpenstaxTerm> argued that there were considerably more than two classes that determined the social inequalities and conflicts among people in capitalist societies. In his seminal essay “The Distribution of Power with the Community: Classes, Stände, Parties” (2010), originally published in German in 1921, Weber argues that there are multiple, overlapping systems from which to gain power and links social stratification to three components: socioeconomic status, prestige, and political party connections.
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	<OpenstaxTerm>Power</OpenstaxTerm>, in <OpenstaxTerm>capitalist</OpenstaxTerm> and <OpenstaxTerm>class societies</OpenstaxTerm>, often stems from capital, which is wealth in the form of money or other assets. <OpenstaxTerm>Economic capital</OpenstaxTerm> is monetary but is not the only form of capital. French sociologist Pierre <OpenstaxTerm>Bourdieu</OpenstaxTerm> distinguished between various forms of capital: economic, social, cultural, and symbolic. Bourdieu defined <OpenstaxTerm>social capital</OpenstaxTerm> as the nonmonetary resources people use to gain social status, such as mutual acquaintances, shared cultural knowledge, or shared experiences. Social capital can also determine one’s power. <OpenstaxTerm>Cultural capital</OpenstaxTerm> refers to the competencies, skills, and qualifications that people acquire that create cultural authority; in an institutionalized form, this takes the form of educational attainment. <OpenstaxTerm>Symbolic capital</OpenstaxTerm>, or the resources available to an individual because of honor, prestige, or recognition, is tied to economic, social, and cultural capital. For instance, successful athletes often have symbolic capital, and this type of capital can increase their social capital and economic capital with endorsements from corporations and other opportunities. However, athletes can also lose their symbolic capital when a scandal or controversy involving them is uncovered, resulting in them losing their endorsements and contracts, which in turn affects their economic and social capital.
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	A good example of how individuals utilize social capital in the United States is the networking that exists in top-tier schools. In <OpenstaxEm>Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs </OpenstaxEm>(2016), sociologist Lauren <OpenstaxTerm>Rivera</OpenstaxTerm> utilizes <OpenstaxTerm>participant observation</OpenstaxTerm> to show how top-tier investment banks, consulting firms, and law firms decide who gets hired and who doesn’t, drawing on analysis of social and cultural capital in the American class system. Often, interviewers from elite firms use the phrase “not a good fit” when deciding not to hire someone in order to skirt around potential accusations of discriminatory intent. Riviera concludes that if a candidate is not from a top-tier school, the only way for them to get hired by such a firm is to have some other social capital connection vouch for their abilities.
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	When those with symbolic capital use their power against those with less power in order to change their actions, they are exercising symbolic violence. <OpenstaxTerm>Symbolic violence</OpenstaxTerm> is a type of nonphysical violence manifested in power differentials between social groups (e.g., upper class and lower class). For <OpenstaxTerm>Bourdieu</OpenstaxTerm>, symbolic violence reinforces ideologies that legitimize and naturalize the status quo. In many instances, symbolic violence reinforces social inequalities. This is perhaps most evident in the language used when referring to other groups. During the long history of migrations toward the US-Mexico border, symbolic violence has been used linguistically by English speakers to refer to migrants in terms that alienate them and set them outside of a common human identity. Labels such as “illegals,” “illegal aliens,” and “undocumented workers” are applied across cultures, defining families and individuals by a single dimension. Linguistic slurs are especially associated with symbolic violence. When human beings are represented in such simple and stark terms, it can become more socially acceptable to oppress them and see them as undeserving of empathy and respect.
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	<OpenstaxTerm>Capitalism</OpenstaxTerm> and class systems can also be analyzed in terms of <OpenstaxTerm>race</OpenstaxTerm>. Initially popularized by political science and Black studies scholar Cedric J. <OpenstaxTerm>Robinson</OpenstaxTerm> in <OpenstaxEm>Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition </OpenstaxEm>(1983), <OpenstaxTerm>racial capitalism</OpenstaxTerm> is the process through which the key aspects of capitalism (credit/debit, production/surplus, capitalist/worker, developed/underdeveloped, etc.) become articulated through existing relations of <OpenstaxTerm>racial inequalities</OpenstaxTerm>. In Robinson’s framework, capitalism is racial not because of some conspiracy to divide workers or to justify slavery but because racialism had already spread through Western feudal society when capitalism developed. Racial capitalism can clearly be seen in the slave trade and colonialism. Scholar Saidiya <OpenstaxTerm>Hartman</OpenstaxTerm> states that slavery still “persists as an issue in the political life of black America . . . because black lives are still imperiled and devalued by a racial calculus and a political arithmetic that were entrenched centuries ago.” Hartman describes this as “the <OpenstaxTerm>afterlife of slavery</OpenstaxTerm>—skewed life chances, limited access to health and education, premature death, incarceration, and impoverishment” (2007, 6). Slavery was a racialized system of capitalism, one that continues to exploit others to the present day.
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	<OpenstaxTerm>Class systems</OpenstaxTerm> emphasize social inequalities because for some people to have money and power, those individuals must exploit and oppress other groups. Capitalism and class societies are often supported by the ideas that those with power earned that power and those without it have individual moral failings instead of acknowledging that the structure of capitalism, which necessitates a working class, generates inequalities.
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9.2.2 Class

1 What Is Anthropology?

1.1 The Study of Humanity, or "Anthropology Is Vast"

1.1.1 The Heart of Anthropology: Central Narrative and Commitments

1.1.2 Central Commitment #1: Exploring Sociocultural Diversity

1.1.3 Central Commitment #2: Understanding How Societies Hold Together

1.1.4 Central Commitment #3: Examining the Interdependence of Humans and Nature

1.2 The Four-Field Approach: Four Approaches within the Guiding Narrative

1.2.1 Biological Anthropology

1.2.2 Archaeology

1.2.3 Cultural Anthropology

1.2.4 Linguistic Anthropology

1.2.5 How the Four Fields Work Together: The Example of Race

1.3 Overcoming Ethnocentrism

1.3.1 Enculturation and Ethnocentrism

1.3.2 Primitivism and Orientalism

1.4 Western Bias in Our Assumptions about Humanity

1.4.1 Primitivism and Orientalism in Popular Culture

1.4.2 The Bias of Backwardness

1.5 Holism, Anthropology’s Distinctive Approach

1.5.1 Society as an Integrated Whole

1.5.2 Sources of Contradiction, Conflict, and Change

1.6 Cross-Cultural Comparison and Cultural Relativism

1.6.1 Relativism Is Not “Anything Goes”

1.6.2 Morality, Activism, and Cultural Relativism

1.7 Reaching for an Insider’s Point of View

1.7.1 The Challenge of Representing Others

1.7.2 Collaborative Methods of Representation

1.7.3 Working across Cultures toward Common Goals

1.7.4 Suggested Readings

2 Methods: Cultural and Archaeological

2.1 Archaeological Research Methods

2.1.1 Archaeological Techniques

2.1.2 Archaeological Dating Methods

2.2 Conservation and Naturalism

2.2.1 Early Efforts

2.2.2 Salvage Anthropology

2.2.3 Museum Collections

2.2.4 Interpretation and Voice

2.3 Ethnography and Ethnology

2.3.1 The Development of Ethnography and Ethnology

2.3.2 Perspective and Interpretation in Ethnography

2.4 Participant Observation and Interviewing

2.4.1 Participant Observation

2.4.2 Interviewing Informants

2.4.3 Ethical Considerations

2.5 Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis

2.5.1 Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Information

2.5.2 Modeling

2.5.3 The Science of Anthropology

2.6 Collections

2.6.1 Archives

2.6.2 Three-Dimensional Collections

2.6.3 Ownership

2.6.4 Suggested Readings

3 Culture Concept Theory: Theories of Cultural Change

3.1 The Homeyness of Culture

3.2 The Winkiness of Culture

3.3 The Elements of Culture

3.3.1 Culture Is What We Make

3.3.2 Culture Is What We Do

3.3.3 Culture Is What We Think

3.4 The Aggregates of Culture

3.4.1 Symbols

3.4.2 Ritual

3.4.3 Social Structure

3.5 Modes of Cultural Analysis

3.5.1 Evolution, Adaptation, and Historical Particularism

3.5.2 Functionalism

3.5.3 Structuralism

3.5.4 Ontology

3.6 The Paradoxes of Culture

3.6.1 Paradox 1: Culture Is Continuous, but It Changes

3.6.2 Paradox 2: Culture Is Bounded but Mobile

3.6.3 Paradox 3: Culture Is Consensual but Contested

3.6.4 Paradox 4: Culture Is Shared, but It Varies

3.6.5 Suggested Readings

4 Biological Evolution and Early Human Evidence

4.1 What Is Biological Anthropology?

4.1.1 Looking to the Deep Past

4.1.2 Exploring What It Means to Be Human

4.2 What’s in a Name? The Science of Taxonomy

4.2.1 Defining the Science of Taxonomy

4.2.2 Defining a Species

4.3 It’s All in the Genes! The Foundation of Evolution

4.3.1 The Units of Life

4.3.2 Gregor Mendel and the Laws of Heredity

4.3.3 Mendelian Inheritance in Humans

4.4 Evolution in Action: Past and Present

4.4.1 Early Evolutionists and the Fixity of Species

4.4.2 Charles Darwin’s Role in Changing Views of the Natural World

4.4.3 Understanding Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection

4.5 What Is a Primate?

4.5.1 What Is a Primate?

4.5.2 Primate Behavioral Variation

4.5.3 Explaining Primate Success

4.5.4 Primate Classification and Taxonomy

4.6 Origin of and Classification of Primates

4.6.1 Understanding Concepts of Time

4.6.2 Fossils and Dating Methods

Question	Answer
competencies, skills, and qualifications people acquire that allow them cultural authority. An institutionalized form of cultural capital is educational attainment.	cultural capital
an ongoing loss of capital and the ensuing loss of social status.	downward social mobility
monetary assets, including material assets that can be converted to money.	economic capital
the accumulation of capital through existing relations of racial inequality.	racial capitalism
the nonmonetary resources that people use to gain social status, such as mutual acquaintances, shared cultural knowledge, or shared experiences.	social capital
the ability of an individual to move up into higher and thus more powerful classes merely by working hard.	social mobility
the resources available to an individual because of honor, prestige, or recognition.	symbolic capital
a type of nonphysical violence that is manifested in the power differential between social groups and reinforces ideologies that legitimize and naturalize the status quo.	symbolic violence